Tag Archives: Preaching
The Priority of the Gospel
The Christian faith is not a mere collection of doctrines — a bag of truths. Christianity is a comprehensive truth claim that encompasses every aspect of revealed doctrine, but is centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, as the apostolic preaching makes clear, the gospel is the priority.
The Word and Worship
Word and worship belong indissolubly to each other. All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of His Name. Therefore acceptable worship is impossible without preaching. For preaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and worship is praising the name of the Lord made known. Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the Word are actually indispensable to it.
John Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century, pp. 81-82
The Centrality of Preaching in Worship
For worship to be directed to God, the worshiper must understand truth about God. That is why the preaching of God’s Word should be central in a worship service. It is why a believer must be studying the Word of God if he is to worship God with all of his life. Without understanding God, a person cannot worship Him.
Not Diplomats But Prophets
We who preach the Gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.
Preaching Is Worship
There is no worship of God that is better than the hearing of a sermon.
The Expositor’s Task
The expository preacher is a bridge builder, seeking to span the gulf between the Word of God and the mind of man. He must do his utmost to interpret the Scripture so accurately and plainly, and to apply it so forcefully, that the truth crosses the bridge.
Feeding the Sheep or Entertaining the Goats
The great task of all faithful preachers is to win souls to the Lord Jesus Christ, to so preach as to move people to surrender to the Lord Jesus. The great temptation of our day for preachers is to ‘pack the pews’ rather than to get people saved. We must beware of entertaining the goats, when we should be transforming them into sheep and feeding them.
Stewart Custer, Biblical Viewpoint Nov. 2000 “The Training of the Twelve”, p. 71
The Place of the Cross in Our Lives
Without the Cross in our Gospel, without the Cross at the heart of our preaching, without the Cross centrally enthroned in our lives, there is no hope.
Edward Jeffries Rees, Christ Speaks from Calvary, p. 12
Life Is Worship 